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The entertainment and media industries are shifting more dollars to digital marketing as they seek to meet new audience habits, according to an eMarketer report. Media and entertainment companies are projected to account for $5.15 billion in digital ad spending this year, a 21.6% increase over 2013, the report showed. "These segments share the common challenge of a difficult transition from physical to digital media. As they make this shift, they are relying on advertising to provide a greater share of monetization than in the days of packaged media," said Paul Verna, the study's lead author.

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Netflix could reap "a huge potential windfall" from its plan to launch in more than 100 markets this year, but it's also "a gamble," said eMarketer analyst Paul Verna. The streaming service also has earmarked $5 billion for content, more than double HBO's projected outlay, with the goal of generating a profit north of $500 million by next year.

Coca-Cola has debuted a TV commercial made up of short clips submitted by fans and will debut the spot during the season finale of "American Idol." The spot was developed by Wieden+Kennedy and comes from an earlier contest asking teens to send clips about what drinking a Coke feels like. "This Is AHH" will run on teen-targeted networks such as Adult Swim, The CW and MTV.

Havas plans to build an entertainment and content portfolio and carve out a niche before the Publicis-Omnicom merger completes, but Havas has no merger plans of its own, said Yannick Bolloré, Havas' CEO. Havas has significant cash reserves and is planning to acquire a handful of new companies, potentially in the media and Hollywood sectors. "I'm not sure a bigger position is relevant to us and we may diversify, but it's at a very premature stage of reflection," said Bolloré.

The catsuit-wearing "Unburglar" emblem of Nationwide is back in a new McKinney spot where she sneaks into an apartment and replaces destroyed appliances, highlighting the brand's shift to pitching renter's insurance. Nationwide is targeting younger users who are renting for longer periods and insuring their units more often. The apartment ad will run during March Madness games and represent about half of the company's media buy in the coming months, said Matt Jauchius, Nationwide's chief marketing officer.

Sports leagues are embracing mobile and online subscription offerings, finding that the new media outreach is not cutting into traditional viewing, according to an eMarketer study. Ad revenues are also significant for live streaming of sporting events with wide regional or global appeal. "Audiences use different screens in a fluid manner depending on time of day, location and other factors," said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst, who notes the viewers often multitask "on laptops, smartphones and tablets even while watching on TV at home."